The Frontier Kids Battle High School
by TastyRadish
Summary: 5 out of 6 Frontier kids are in high school. As they get older their feelings for each other start to change. Will they ever be more than friends? [Takuya and Zoe fic]
1. Introduction

_**Hey so this is my first fanfic :). I did it on Takuya and Zoe because I thought they should have put more moments of them together on the show. (Most chapters are really short. Sorry.) But I promise you that it will be good. And I kind of Americanized it, so yeah. Rate and Review in order for me to put up the next chapter :) **_

_  
No, not today. _14 year old Zoe thought. She didn't want to wake up this early, but she had no choice. She didn't want to be late for her first day of high school. _At least my school uniform will look super cute on me. _  
---

She had to admit 9th grade scared her a bit. She wasn't sure what to expect.  
"Zoe! Over here!" She heard a familiar voice call out. She turned around and saw JP running over to her waving his arms trying to get her attention. She had almost forgotten that she, JP, and Takuya were all going to the same high school. Kouji and Kouichi were going to a private school. And Tommy was still in elementary school.

"Wow JP, you're looking good!" Zoe said when he caught up to her.  
"Yeah, well you know, a summer at fat camp had some positive results." JP and Zoe both laughed. He really did look good. She was impressed. But she could never think of JP as anything more than a friend. Even if he did have like a ginormous crush on her back in the digital world. She hoped he'd given up on that.

"Hey look it's Takuya!" JP called out. He waved Takuya over.  
_Ok wow, is it just me, or has Takuya gotten hott? Well, hott-er. That's puberty for you. _Zoe thought.  
"JP! Looking good!" Takuya said giving JP a high five.  
"So I've heard." JP replied happily.  
"You're, um, looking good too, Zoe." Takuya said, smiling.  
"Uh, thanks. You too." She said quickly, trying not to blush. After a few seconds of awkward silence JP stepped in.  
"Hey since this is my second year here, why don't I show you guys around?"  
"Yeah, sure."  
"Sounds good."

And with that they left to explore their school. The three former frontiers were about to begin possibly one of the biggest adventures of their lives. High school.


	2. Zoe

**_It's chapter 2 time :). Thanks to everyone that reviewed! But I'd really appreciate it if you guys would give me more detailed reviews. And yeah, once again I'm sorry the chapters are really short. But keep in mind this is my first fanfic. Rate and Review in order for me to put up the next chapter._**

Takuya and the others had stopped keeping in touch with each other about a year after they left the digital world. He really missed everybody. But they had all moved on with their lives and made new friends.

Takuya had seen Zoe once a while back. He'd forgotten how long ago it was. She was in the park sitting on a bench by herself reading a novel. The sun was shining down on her, making her look almost angelic. Her blond hair was shining, bringing out all her highlights. She was a lot prettier than he remembered back in the digital world.

Just as Takuya was walking towards her to say hello, some other guy got to Zoe first and sat beside her, he even put his arm around her. Takuya stopped walking. He was staring at them for a few seconds but then he turned around so he wouldn't be facing them anymore. _Ok so she has a boyfriend. That shouldn't bother me. Why is this bothering me? _

He turned his head so that he was looking back in their direction. They were talking to each other. The guy still had his arm around her, and she was smiling. Man he missed her smile. _I have to get out of here..._  
---

"Wow this place is huge." Zoe said when they entered the building. "I hope I don't get lost."  
"Don't worry Z, you'll know your way around in no time!" JP told her.  
"I hope so." Zoe sighed. "Hey Takuya, do we have any classes together?"  
"Uhh, let me check." Takuya pulled out his schedule and compared it with Zoe's. "Well... we have fourth period together."  
"That's great! So what do we have fourth period?"  
"Health."  
JP laughed. "Ha, good luck with that!"  
"What are you talking about?"  
"Most of the assignments are partner assignments."  
"So...?"  
"Ahh, never mind. I'm going to go find my homeroom. See you guys later." JP left.  
"I better go too, Takuya. See you at fourth!" Zoe said. Takuya watched as she left. He figured he should also head for his first class.

Health wasn't exactly Takuya's favourite subject, but for some reason, he was looking foward to it.


	3. Fourth Period

_**Ok so I finished the third chapter. I tried to make it longer, but it's still pretty short. Tell me what you think because your opinion matters. And don't worry other frontier characters will show up soon. Review please & thanks :)  
**_

_This class could not possibly be any longer._ Zoe was in her third period class. She spent most of the day staring at clock. _Come on, end already!  
_  
Zoe's day was not at all going how she wanted it to. She was late for several classes because she kept getting lost, the food in the cafeteria was overpriced and incredibly disgusting, and she hadn't made a single new friend. And since it was the fisrt day, all her classes had been pointless. Her teachers spent most of class going over useless stuff like rules, expectations, and other stuff that she wasn't really paying much attention to.

After several minutes of Zoe trying to psychically speed up time, she heard a loud ring. Class was finally over. She quickly grabbed all her stuff and headed for her next class. _Yes, fourth period time! I thought it would never get here! ...Wait a minute. Why am so excited for fourth period? It's going to be just as boring as all my other classes.  
_  
She found her next class without too much difficulty. She saw that Takuya was already there sitting down.  
"Hey Zoe, I saved a seat for you." Takuya said tapping the seat right beside him.  
"Thanks." she said while sitting down. The desks were split up into rows and each row had two desks beside each other. The classroom had a whole bunch of weird pictures and diagrams on the walls. _Wonderful. _

"Good morning class. I am your teacher Ms..." The teacher (who was rather manly looking) began to talk and write stuff on the board, but Zoe was not in the mood to pay attention.  
"So how did your first day go so far?" Takuya asked Zoe.  
"Horrible. I thought I was going to die of boredom within the first hour."  
"Whoever is talking back there please stop. I don't want to have to give detentions on the first day!" Takuya and Zoe both sighed. Despite the teacher's warning Takuya was still whispering to Zoe.  
"Come on, it couldn't be that bad. I bet you probably had a whole bunch of guys just swarming you, trying to get 'to know you better', if you know what I mean." he did a whole bunch of air quotes and exaggerated winks when he said that. Zoe gave him a weird look.  
"Are you kidding? Nobody even asked me for a pencil or anything. It feels like I'm invisible." The teacher was still writing stuff on the board, she was looking rather annoyed.  
"I am dead serious! If whoever is talking does not cease immediately, I will give you detention so fast you're heads will spin!" At the risk of getting in trouble, Takuya moved a little closer to Zoe and whispered in her ear,  
"Zoe, you'll never be invisible to me."

Ah, leave it Takuya to make Zoe's horrible day a little less horrible.


	4. And So the Drama Begins

_**Ha so guess what? I finished chapter four :). And surprise, it's longer! If you still find it short, just bear with me, I'm doing my best. Thanks goes out to everyone who reviewed. Keep them coming.**_

_  
What, is it morning already? _Takuya thought as he was being blinded by the sun's rays. He got up from his bed and closed the curtains. A week of school had passed without anything even remotely significant happening. He would have stayed in bed longer but he promised JP and Zoe that they would all meet before school started and hang out.  
---

"Took you long enough." Zoe said to Takuya when he finally met up her and JP outside the school.  
"Sorry." Takuya said, still a little dazed from lack of sleep. His hair wasn't combed and his uniform was sloppy. Zoe thought it was actually a good look for him.  
"Hey, what are those flyers doing every where?" Takuya asked pointing at the colourful papers all over the school.  
"Oh, those. They had that last year too. It's the 'Annual Freshman Dance'." JP told him.  
"Yeah, JP was just telling me about it before you came. Sounds pretty lame if you ask me."  
"There's a dance? Already? But it's only the second week of school. I barely even know anybody besides you and Zoe."  
"Well that's the whole point of the dance."  
"I'm not following you."  
"It's supposed to bring people together. You know, step out of your comfort zone and approach others. Get to know people."  
"Told you it was lame."

Takuya did want something exciting to happen, but this was not what he had in mind. Dances scared the hell out him. Ooh junior high flashbacks: Takuya accidentally spilling punch on a girl, girl slapping Takuya, Takuya dancing with zipper open, Takuya spilling punch on himself, people laughing at Takuya, Takuya dancing by himself. _Oh the memories._

"Uhh, earth to Takuya? Are you there?" Zoe said waving her hand in his face.  
"Huh, what?" Takuya said when his flashbacks were over.  
"You just kind of zoned out there a second ago."  
"Oh. Sorry."  
"So JP, how did the dance go last year?"  
"I pretty much stood in the corner alone the whole time eating chocolate bars. The music was good though."  
---

After his enlightening conversation with JP and Zoe, Takuya couldn't focus all day. This whole dance thing was really bothering him. He could just not show up, but then again, if he was too scared to go to this dance he might end up being too scared to go to all the dances, and he'd miss out on a big part of the high school experience.

Takuya mentally scanned all the girls in his previous classes. There had to be at least one girl with enough potential to go to the dance with him. When he realized that there wasn't, he gave up. He couldn't see himself with any of them. He knew exactly who he wanted to go to the dance with, but he wasn't sure if she would feel the same way. Takuya didn't even know if he would have the guts to ask her. The sad part was that this girl was sitting right beside him.

"Hey Takuya, I was wondering something." Zoe said to Takuya in class.  
"What is it?"  
"Well you know this whole dance thing. It's got me thinking. What if both of us can't find any dates? That would like really suck."  
"Uh, yeah, I guess it would..." he didn't see where she was going with this.  
"Exactly. So I was thinking, that you know, if none of us can find anyone to go with, maybe, I don't know, me and you could go together, to the dance, if you want?" What Zoe was saying just then may have been hard to follow, but did Takuya just hear what he thought he heard? Did Zoe just ask him to go to the dance with her? He was thrilled, but he didn't want Zoe to go to the dance with him only because she couldn't find anybody else to go with. He wanted her to go to the dance with him because she wanted to go with him.  
"Um, thanks for the offer Zoe, but the whole point of this dance is to try and meet _new_ people. And I don't think I'll have the incentive to find someone if I just have you as a back up."  
"Oh. Right, well that makes sense. Ok so just pretend like I didn't ask you that then." Zoe tried to smile. She was a little disappointed. She hadn't expected him to say that. She remembered when Takuya had told her that he liked her back in the digital world. Maybe he had meant it just as a friend.  
---

It was after school and Zoe was heading for her locker to put away her stuff. Someone was already at the locker beside hers.  
"Hey, I think you dropped this." Zoe said picking up a book that had fallen down and handed it to her locker neighbour.  
"Oh. Thanks." said the guy. He was about Zoe's height, maybe an inch taller. When he smiled at her she could see that he was wearing braces, but he didn't look like a nerd or anything, Zoe actually thought he was kind of cute.  
"Your name is Zoe, right?" he asked her.  
"Yeah. How'd you know?"  
"You're in my health class. I sit a few rows behind you."  
"Really? I don't think I've seen you there before. Actually I don't think I've seen you at all, until now."  
"Well our lockers are right beside each other."  
"Oh, wow. I must look really stupid." Zoe said embarrassed. She was never good at remembering people.  
"Don't worry about it." He laughed. As he was putting away the book that he dropped back in his locker, Zoe got a chance to read what was on the cover. '_English to Italian Dictionary_'.  
"You speak Italian?" Zoe asked sounding impressed.  
"I wish. I went to Italy last summer with my parents and now I'm totally obsessed with everything Italian."  
"Really? What a coincidence. I actually used to live in Italy before I moved here."  
"Wow, that is so cool. I knew I was going to like you."  
"Hey, you know I could teach you some Italian if you wanted."  
"Sure, that would be great. But I don't think I'd be able to concentrate with a teacher as pretty as you." he winked at her. "I'm Lucas by the way."  
"I'm Zoe. Oh wait you already knew that." Zoe felt her cheeks start to turn pink. Lucas laughed.  
"I should be getting home now. It was nice meeting you. I'll see you tomorrow."  
"Ok, bye. It was nice meeting you too."

Zoe couldn't help herself, she felt like skipping all the home.


	5. Bring on the Babes

**_Longest chapter so far :). Review please&thanks._**

"_None_ of you know the answer to this equation? Come on children this is simple mathematics! If I showed this to a bunch of apes they would figure it out in less than ten minutes!" Takuya's math teacher was yelling at the class again. Hey it's not their fault that television and the internet have totally shortened their attention span.

"Well how big of an ape?" Takuya blurted out without realizing it. His math teacher glared at him.  
"You there, Tacky, stand up!" _Oh crap._  
"Um, my name is _Takuya_, sir." Takuya said in a low voice. His math teacher stared at him in disbelief, like Takuya was walking right into his own funeral.  
"But, um, Tacky's fine, sir." Takuya said in a frightened voice while standing up. His math teacher was huge, bigger than his P.E. teacher.  
"Come to the front of the class please." He said in a casual voice, which made him seem even creepier. Takuya did what he was told.  
"Solve this problem." His teacher told him, whacking his pointer stick at the math problem written on the board.  
_Ok um, let's see, x squared equals 6 x divided by 4 plus x divided by negative 2 minus 3... Oh boy... I would so rather be facing cherubimon again. _  
"I'm waiting..." The teacher said tapping his foot angrily on the floor. The whole class was staring at him. This was like the time he wet his pants in second grade all over again.  
"x equals 21." Takuya heard someone say from the back of class. "I would have figured it out sooner, sir, but I accidentally copied the question down wrong." said the boy. The math teacher smiled.  
"Ah, Lucas, I knew you would come through for me." Lucas smiled as if it were nothing, flashing everyone his braces. "Now go sit down, Tick... oh forget it, no use remembering your name anyways." The math teacher told Takuya. "Maybe you can learn a thing or two from Lucas here."

Lucas? What a joke. Takuya hated that guy. He was always making everyone look bad. What was with that guy anyways? Did he have nothing better to do then be perfect at everything?  
"Aren't you glad I'm in you're class, Takuya?" Lucas asked him casually when he got back to his seat. Takuya ignored him. "Otherwise, who knows how long you'd have been up there!"  
---

"You're late." Takuya's health teacher said when he arrived at class.  
"Sorry, ma'am, it's just that my math teacher kept me after class. Here, he gave me a note to give you." Takuya gave the note to his teacher and walked towards his seat. But someone was already sitting there. It was Lucas. _Are you kidding me?_  
"Hey Takuya. I didn't think you were coming to class. Is it okay if Lucas sits here today?" Zoe asked him.  
_NO. Absolutely NOT. Since when did Zoe and Lucas become friends anyways?? Great, this is because I told her I wanted to meet new people, isn't it? Me and my big mouth._  
"Of course it's okay!" Takuya said in an overly polite way while gritting his teeth. He sat in the seat behind Lucas instead.

He looked at the person sitting beside him. It was a girl. A very big girl.  
"Hey, Takuya!" she said in an enthusiastic voice.  
"Hello... Maggie, is it?" Takuya asked. She nodded her head vigorously.  
"You're the first person that knows my name!"  
Takuya wasn't the type to judge someone before he got to knew them, but it was pretty hard for him not to immediately assume the worst about Maggie.  
Maggie had a whole bunch of candy and chocolate bar wrappers in her desk. During class, all he could hear was slurping and munching noises coming from her.  
"Maggie... what are doing with that lollipop?..." Takuya asked her. Maggie was sucking a lollipop in a way that he was sure lollipops weren't intended to be sucked.  
"Oh, you see, there's a dance coming up, and you know, well, I have to practice somewhere!" She giggled, and then snorted. "Sorry, how rude of me. Would you like a lick?" She put her lollipop, which was dripping with saliva, right up to his face.  
"No, Maggie, it's ok!" Takuya said, facing the opposite direction so that she wouldn't see the look of sheer horror on his face.

"Now, today class, I will be giving you a new assignment." the health teacher said in her usual loud, manly voice. She reached under her desk and pulled out a box of babies. Plastic babies. "Each of you will get into pairs. Each pair will contain one boy and one girl..." _Yes, here's my chance to be with Zoe! _Takuya thought.  
"Zoe, do you want to be my partner?" Takuya heard Lucas whisper to Zoe.  
_What? No! That's not fair, he can't ask her now! The teacher hasn't even finished talking yet! What a jerk. Tell him no, Zoe._  
"Sure." Zoe whispered back to Lucas. Takuya eyes widened. _Noooo! This can not be happening. If Lucas hadn't stolen my seat I would have been able to ask her first._  
The teacher continued talking, "Each pair will receive one baby. It will be each pair's duty to take care of their baby as if it were real. This assignment will last two weeks. And I expect all babies to be given back to me in perfect condition!"  
_I'll just have to be partners with Maggie now. Oh well, it could be worse._  
Just as Takuya was turning towards Maggie to ask her, the guy sitting behind her asked Maggie to be his partner first. _Great, now I have to find someone else. _Takuya quickly searched for a girl that didn't have a partner. All the girls were taken.  
_Why me? _he thought.

Takuya sighed and raised his hand, "Um, ma'am, I don't have a partner."  
"Huh what? Err ok, let's see..." She looked around the room for someone. "Oh! There's someone right behind you who doesn't seem to have a partner." Takuya turned around. The only person he saw there was a _guy_.  
"Uh, I don't see any one ma'am."  
"Nonsense. Right over there. Spencer, stand up." _Spencer?_  
"You want me to be partners with a guy?!" Takuya stood there in disbelief. Now it has officially gotten worse.  
"I know it's not the way the assignment was meant to be, but in this case I'll make an exception. As a proud member of the gay community, I think it's great that we're expanding ourselves from what society normally wants." _Did she just say she was gay? _"Besides, I'm surprised that a boy like you isn't gay already." Takuya's face went pale. The whole class started to laugh hysterically. _What did she mean by that??_  
"Settle down! Everyone line up at the front of the class with your partner and I will assign you your baby. Once you receive your baby you will return to your seats with your partner and discuss your plan for taking care of your baby."

"Hello, Takuya." Spencer said when they were in line together. Spencer was one of those guys that was always in perfect uniform and always used proper grammar. The kind of guy that had 'suck up' written all over him. He even spoke with a fake British accent, because he thought it would make him seem more sophisticated.  
"To be honest with you, I'm glad I don't have to work with a girl." Spencer whispered to Takuya. "They sort of, scare the knickers off me."  
"Hm." was Takuya's response to that.

After they got their baby, they went back to their seats.  
"Ok, here's the deal, Spencer." Takuya said. "You take care of the baby for the first week, and I'll take care of it the second week. Oh and we will no contact what-so-ever during that time."  
"Don't you think we should start by giving the baby a name? May I do the honour?"  
"...Sure. Knock yourself out."  
"I think it should have a noble name. Like... Napoleon!"  
"Napoleon? No son of mine will be called Napoleon! Wait a minute, what am I saying?"  
"You're right. We can't name it until we know if it's a lad, or a lassie."  
"Yeah... Well just check under its diaper."  
"No! You do it."  
"Relax man, its a fake baby."  
"Exactly. So you should have no problem checking."  
"I don't want to do it. You do it."  
"No, you do it."  
"No, you-"  
"It's a girl!" Zoe shouted when she couldn't take their arguing anymore. "They're all girls." She said quietly and then turned her attention back to Lucas.

Who knew high school could be so fun?


	6. Friends?

**_Chapter 6! Sorry it took so long. Review please & thanks._**

"Hey, Zoe! Whatcha doing?" Zoe heard someone yell from behind her shoulder. School hadn't begun yet so Zoe was sitting on the steps outside the school by her self.  
"Takuya! Don't sneak up on me like that!" she said startled.  
"Sorry. So what are you doing here by yourself?" he said sitting down next to her.  
"I'm just waiting for someone."  
"Oh. Do you mind if I keep you company?"  
"That'd be great." she smiled. They both sat there for a while.  
"So..." Takuya said trying to start a conversation of some kind.  
"Takuya, I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday during class." Zoe said. To be honest, she was kind of glad that Takuya's partner was a guy. She didn't want to see him being together with another girl.  
"It's not that bad. Spencer's really good with babies because he has three younger brothers, so I actually don't mind having him as a partner."  
"That's good to hear."  
"So how are things going with you and Lucas? You guys have been spending a lot of time together lately..." he said sounding a little sad.  
"Yeah, well he's a really cool person. You should hang out with him more often. You'd really like him."  
"I doubt it." he muttered to himself. "So, are you and Lucas, um, you know..."  
"No. No, we're just friends." she said quickly.  
"Oh." he said a little relieved. "Listen, Zoe, about the dance coming up, I was wondering if you still wanted to-"  
"Zoe!" someone said, cutting Takuya off.  
"Lucas!" Zoe smiled and stood up to greet him.  
"Sorry I took so long. This stupid baby kept me up all night." Lucas said.  
"It's ok. So are we still on for tonight?" Zoe asked.  
"You bet. Meet me after school so I can walk you home."  
"But I live pretty far from here."  
"So? It will give us a chance to spend more time together." Lucas said sweetly. Takuya saw Zoe blush a little. He had never felt more sick in his life.  
"Ok, so I should get going now. Class is going to start soon. I'll see you later." he said.  
"Ok. Bye Lucas." Zoe waved.  
"Bye Zoe. Bye Takuya."  
"Buh-bye." Takuya said in a very non-enthusiastic way.

"What's happening tonight?" Takuya asked Zoe when Lucas left.  
"Oh, um, Lucas is coming over. You know, so we can work on our assignment."  
"I thought your parents would never in a million years let you have boys over."  
"Well, the thing is, they kind of don't know. They're not going to be home today, so I figured, what they don't know can't hurt them, or me for that matter."  
"Oh. So... you and Lucas, are going be at your house, together... alone...?"  
"I guess."  
Takuya felt his heart explode when he heard that. He couldn't speak for a few moments.  
"Hey Takuya, what were you going to ask me about before Lucas came?"  
"Um, nothing. It's not important. I have to go, Zoe." Takuya rushed off without even waiting for her to say goodbye.

Takuya leaned the back of his head against the wall. He remembered when he and Zoe used to be really close. After they had gotten back from the digital world it seemed like they spent every waking moment together. It was as if every time he saw her, his feelings towards her became stronger. But they were both still pretty young, and didn't know how to handle their feelings. And as Zoe got older, more boys started noticing her. Takuya felt like she didn't need him any longer. Eventually they both just started drifting apart from each other. He didn't realize how much he still cared about her until now.  
_  
Looks like I've lost her for good this time._ He thought.


	7. The Freshman Dance

**_Time for Chapter 7! Once again sorry it took so long. This story is turning out longer then I intended. Anyways you know the drill. REVIEW :). Thank you._**

"Oh my god, I can totally not believe the dance is TODAY!" Zoe heard some girls talking to one another. She normally would be all excited too, but she hadn't been too happy lately. She wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe it was the fact that Takuya had been acting really strange around her recently. What was up with him? He stopped wanting to hang out with her, he rarely even talked to her, and was just avoiding any contact with her in general. She had no idea why.

This was just like the time when they got back from the digital world. Everything was fine between them, in fact they were getting really close to each other, but then all of a sudden Takuya just didn't want to be around her anymore. He didn't even try to make the effort of getting to know any of her new friends that she made. Did he just get bored of her? That was probably it.

"Takuya!" Zoe ran ahead to catch up to Takuya who was walking in front her.  
"Oh, Zoe. Hi." he said forcing a smile. She wanted to ask him why he had been acting so weird, but she decided not to.  
"So, the dance is tonight. Are you excited?"  
"No, not really."  
"Why not?"  
"I don't think I'll be going." he said staring at the ground. What would he do at the dance? Stand in the corner alone while he watched Zoe and her new friend, Lucas, together? Yeah, he'd have a better time at home, thank you very much.  
"What? Why? You have to come! It's not going to be same with out you." she said sadly. Her saying that made him feel a little better.  
"Alright. I'll go." he said, with a hint of happiness in his voice. He was glad to hear that she still wanted him there.  
---

_Tell me again why I decided to come?_ Takuya thought to himself as he walked through the gym doors. He nearly tripped over his over-sized dress shoes, which his mother insisted he wore.  
_"Zoe is not going to want to dance with you in those dirty, old sneakers, Takuya!"_  
_"Mom, me and Zoe... are just friends."_  
_"Really? So why do you have a picture of you and her together, under your pillow?" His cheeks turned bright red. _  
_"Mom! I told you not to go through my stuff!"_

Bad techno music blasted against Takuya's ear drums. _It's not too late to leave, and never look back._ He thought.  
"Takuya, there you are!" he heard Zoe's voice.  
"Zoe, hi! Oh wow, you look... amazing." he said to her. Her knee-length purple dress made her look like a movie star.  
"Thanks. So do you. Nice shoes by the way." she smiled. Takuya laughed embarrassedly.  
"So, did you come here by yourself?" he asked.  
"No, Lucas picked me up. He's in the bathroom right now. I swear, he has at least like five pounds of hair gel on." she joked.  
"Oh, right, Lucas, of course. Almost forgot about him." he muttered under his breath. "Ok, well I'm going to walk around, you know, admirer the decorations, and such." Takuya said and walked away. Zoe watched him leave.  
"Oh-kay, um bye?" Zoe said to her self.  
_Great, he's doing it again. Takuya can't stand to be around me. Am I really that boring? _  
_---_

"Would you like some punch, my good man?" a boy named Sid asked Takuya. Sid had a mischievous grin on face.  
"No, thanks. I've had bad experiences with punch." Takuya said, remembering his junior high flashbacks. Sid shrugged and walked away and began asking other people if they wanted punch. Takuya's eyes roamed around the gym. He spotted Zoe and Lucas dancing together, looking like they were having a good time.

"Zoe, I'm getting kind of thirsty. I'm going to get a drink. Do you want anything?" Lucas asked Zoe over the loud music.  
"Nah, I'm good. Plus I don't trust anything Sid's been near." Lucas laughed then left to get some punch. Zoe started looking around while she waited for Lucas to come back. She saw Takuya. He had been standing alone in that same spot for practically the whole dance. He had been staring at her the whole time too. The moment he saw her looking at him, he quickly glanced away. Ok, this was it, she needed to find out what was wrong with him. She began to walk towards him.  
---

Takuya looked up and saw Zoe coming towards him. He looked behind him in case it was some one else she was walking to. He started getting nervous. He didn't like seeing Zoe with other guys, and whenever he got jealous, a lot of stupid things would come out of his mouth. _Oh crap. Why is she coming here? Ok, just turn around and pretend like you didn't see her._

"Takuya? Where're you going?" she asked. Turns out Takuya's reaction time is very slow, and he managed to turn around when she was right in front of him.  
"Oh, hello Zoe. Didn't see you there." he laughed nervously. Zoe had a confused expression on her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but just then Lucas came over.  
"Zoe, you have got to try this punch. It's incredible." Lucas said, gulping down the juice. Sid walked over to them and grinned.  
"I spiked the punch." he whispered to Takuya. "Goodie-two-shoes Lucas here won't know what hit him." Sid winked and carried on offering people more punch.

Takuya smiled. _Finally something is going right._


	8. The Freshman Dance II

**_Whoa. It's chapter 8. My apologies for taking so long. Don't forget to review!_**

"This is officially the greatest day, in the history of great... day-ie-ness!" A very drunk Lucas shouted.  
"You got that right." Takuya said to himself, rather enjoying the sight of Lucas making a total idiot out of himself in front of Zoe. There were other people at the dance that were also drunk as a result of Sid's spiked punch, but none of them were quite as drunk as Lucas.

"I love you, Zoe." Lucas burped while putting his arm around Zoe. "And that baby of ours. They grow up so fast." he suddenly burst into tears. Zoe couldn't remember the last time she had ever felt this embarrassed, or this disturbed. She took Lucas' arm off her.  
"Sid what the hell was in that punch!" she demanded. Sid pretended to be oblivious. Zoe stormed off. She wasn't enjoying this dance any more.

Lucas then moved over to Takuya and put his arm around his shoulders.  
"Ah, Takuya. Buddy!" Lucas said to him with his hand in the air waiting for Takuya to give him a high five. The last thing Takuya wanted to do was give Lucas a high five. And he was definitely not his buddy.  
"Oh, ok. I see how it is." Lucas said when he realized that he had been rejected. He took his arm off Takuya and began to leave, but not before he decided to make an even bigger fool of himself. "Oh and by the way dude, I know that you've like had a thing for Zoe for a while now. So I just thought that I should let you know that, you don't have a chance with her!" Takuya's glared at him. His hate for Lucas started to turn into rage. "I mean like come on! You should know by now that she only has eyes for the Lucanator." he said arrogantly and staggered away. Which was a good thing because Takuya had a strong urge to hurl something at him.  
---

"Great, where did he go now?" Zoe muttered. She was getting really annoyed of trying to keep Lucas under control. He had seemed like such a descent guy, but tonight he was acting like a real jerk. She couldn't be mad at him though. It wasn't exactly his fault he was acting this way. This dance was going to be over soon, and she needed to find Lucas because he promised that he'd take her home. But she couldn't find him any where.  
_He didn't leave without me, did he? _She thought worriedly.

Zoe sighed. She didn't want to go home by herself. It was dark out. And she didn't know if anybody else would want to take her home. There was always Takuya. But he hadn't been acting like much of friend to her lately. Zoe didn't want to bother him. He probably wouldn't want to do it anyways. She continued looking for Lucas, but gave up and decided to wait on the stairs. Hopefully he would come back.

"Zoe?" she heard someone say. She looked up and saw Takuya standing in front of her. "Hey. How are you?" he asked her.  
"Uhm, I'm fine.. I guess?" she replied, unsure of why he was suddenly not trying to avoid her.  
"Oh ok. Cool." he took a seat a few inches away from her on the stairs. "So... did you have fun tonight?"  
"Hmm, depends on what you think 'fun' is." she responded. Takuya didn't say anything for a while. He started tapping his foot, nervously, on the floor.  
"Wouldyouliketodance?" he suddenly said out of the blue.  
"What?" she asked, a little surprised.  
"Would you like to dance, with me?" he said slower this time.  
_Great, a pity dance. _She thought. "Well... if Lucas comes back, I don't think he'd be too happy about seeing me dance with another guy..." she lied.  
"Oh. Of course. Should have known better." he said quietly. He got up from the stairs and began to leave.

Zoe thought that Takuya was only asking her to dance because he felt bad for her, but judging by the hurt look on his face, maybe he actually did want to dance with her.  
"Takuya, wait!" she yelled. He stopped and turned around. "I would love to dace with you." she smiled and put her arms around his neck.  
---

This felt like dream. Here Takuya was, dancing with this girl that he had been in love with ever since they both fell in a hole on their first day in the digital world. He had always been too afraid to make a move on her. The 'just friends' factor was always in affect. Even more so after she started dating Lucas.

But he wouldn't give up on being with Zoe that easily, not without a fight. He couldn't lose her, especially not to Lucas. He did too have a chance with her. Takuya needed to prove Lucas wrong. When he finally plucked up the courage to ask Zoe to dance, he wondered why he hadn't done so sooner. This moment, holding her close to him, it was pure bliss.

"We should be together." Zoe said softly.  
"What..?" Takuya asked hoping that she had just said what he thought she said.  
"We should be together." she said a little louder. Takuya didn't really know how to react. Zoe, wanted to be with... him? This was unreal. He wanted to be with her for so long, and she felt the same way about him!  
"Yeah- yeah we should be together!" he said with unexpected enthusiasm.  
"I know, exactly, I mean don't get me wrong, Lucas is great and all, its just that, _you're_ a lot more exciting than he is. This whole baby assignment would be a lot easier if we were working together." Takuya's smile faded.  
"You meant, we should be together... for the _health assignment_..?"  
"Yeah."  
"Oh.."  
"What you don't think it's a good idea anymore?" Zoe asked when she noticed the disappointed look on his face.  
"No... it's just that... Listen, Zoe there's something I need to tell you." He couldn't hold it back any longer. He _needed_ to tell her how he felt about her. He couldn't hide it anymore.  
"What is it?" she asked.  
"Ok. Where do I begin... um, well, you see, Zoe.. I know we've been friends for a long time.. but, the thing is-" Takuya was cut short. The music stopped and the DJ came on the speakers.

"Ok ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry to say this, but this evening has come to an end." People in the crowd began to boo and groan. "Hope you all had a good time. Get home safe. I'm out." said the DJ and began putting away his stuff. Everyone began to leave.  
"What? No. Not now!" Takuya panicked. He had to tell Zoe now, or he might never get the chance.  
"Sorry, Takuya." Zoe said noticing how upset he was.

"No, Zoe, wait. Don't go yet! Ok just listen, this won't take long." he was getting desperate.  
"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." she smiled, giving Takuya her undivided attention. Takuya held both of her hands.  
"Ok." he took in a deep breath, "Zoe, I know we've been friends for a long time, but... I want us to-"

"Zoe!" Takuya was cut short again. This time by Lucas. He came running in after Zoe.  
"Lucas! Where have you been?" she let go of Takuya's hands and gave her attention to Lucas.  
"Please don't be mad at me, Zoe. Oh god, I am going to have such a hang over tomorrow. Note to self, never drink the punch at a high school dance again. I spent the last half hour throwing up." Lucas whined. He clenched his stomach in pain.  
"Aw, Lucas, you should have told me. I could have helped you." she told him compassionately. Lucas moved closer to Zoe and put both his arms around her.  
"I'm sorry. I won't do it again." he hugged her. Takuya glared at him. Zoe pulled away gently from Lucas.  
"Sorry, Takuya, what did you want to tell me earlier?" she said realizing that he was still staring at her.  
"...It's not important." Takuya said angrily and walked away. Zoe watched in confusion as he left. He didn't even say good bye.

"Why do you always hang around that guy anyways?" Lucas asked Zoe testily when Takuya was gone. She didn't immediately respond. She found herself staring at the stairs where Takuya had asked her to dance.

"He... is a really good friend of mine." she sad, wishing that he was something more.


	9. Saturday Morning

**_After much anticipation it is finally here... the last chapter!  
Well actually it's the second last chapter. I've decided to post the last two chapters at the same time. So, enjoy! Make sure you review! You know you want to. _**

_I'm doing it again. _  
Zoe thought. Why couldn't she stop thinking about him? Today was a beautiful Saturday morning, and Zoe could find nothing better to do then to try and figure out what had been going on with Takuya yesterday at the dance. She had never felt more confused then she did right now. It was ridiculous. First he was friends with her, really good friends with her. Then he started randomly avoiding her. Later he asks her to dance. And then after that, he completely ditches her!

She hated this. Why couldn't things go back to the way they were before? Back when Takuya and Zoe were kids. Everything was so perfect. But now, she didn't really know what was going on between them. Things were getting way too complicated.

Zoe brushed her hair away from her face. She was all alone today. She didn't feeling like staying home, so she decided to go out for a walk, maybe try and organize all her thoughts. She ended up going to the park. It was the park that she and Takuya used to always hang out at. Back when things were normal between them. Zoe sat on one of the swings, motionless, not feeling motivated to actually use the swing for swinging. She didn't understand why thinking about Takuya suddenly bothered her this much. She wasn't the type to obsess over the little things. Zoe sighed heavily. She could feel the warm sun rays on her skin. She needed to forget about Takuya for now.  
---

"I'm such a jerk." Takuya muttered to himself, kicking a pebble that was on the ground. He was outside walking with both hands tucked inside his pockets. Takuya couldn't believe how stupid he had acted last night. Zoe probably never wanted to be around him again.

He couldn't help it. Seeing Lucas all over Zoe like that, it was not a pleasant sight. Even when they were kids, all the boys would always try to flirt with Zoe or try to impress her. Takuya couldn't stand it. He felt like a third wheel. It wasn't like a 'he wanted Zoe all for himself and nobody else could touch her' kind of thing, it was just that... he didn't quite know yet. He wanted Zoe to be happy, but Takuya didn't think that any of those guys could make her happy. None of them knew her like he did.

Takuya had come so close to telling Zoe how he felt about her yesterday. He wouldn't have chickened out if Lucas wasn't in the picture. He just needed Zoe to be alone for once, and then maybe he could be brave enough to tell her.

And just like that, Takuya got his wish. He continued walking for a while before he noticed a very familiar blonde haired girl sitting on the swings at the park. Zoe.

She seemed so sad, like she just had a lot on her mind. It was a rare sight to see someone that was once so bubbly just sit there, staring at the ground, lost in thought. He knew this was his chance to be close to her again, maybe try to comfort her from whatever it was that was bothering her.  
_Just talk to her, how hard can that be? _He told himself.

He took a few steps towards her. Why was he getting so nervous? He had talked to Zoe thousands of times. Heck, they even fought bad guys and saved the world together. Going over and saying hello would be a walk in the park. Literally.

"Zoe, hi." Takuya said from a few feet behind her. Zoe turned around to see who it was, but then turned back soon after.  
"Oh, it's you." she said quietly, continuing to stare at the ground. She didn't seem too happy to see him. Takuya had a feeling this would happen. Nonetheless, he had an opportunity to be alone with her and he wasn't going to pass it up.

He took a seat on the swing beside hers.  
"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Takuya said when he could think of nothing else to say.  
"Mhmm." Zoe said softly. She still seemed to be deep in thought.  
"Is there something on your mind?" he asked, hoping that maybe they could start having an actual conversation. She didn't reply. She was still lost in thought, as if she was trying hard to figure something out. Takuya started to become even more nervous. "...Because, you seem kind of sad about something. And, I hate seeing you sad. So, um, if something's bothering you, you can always tell me you know, maybe I can help you?" Takuya was getting desperate. He started fidgeting around with his fingers, what he usually did when he didn't know what else to do. Why wasn't she talking to him? He wasn't used to seeing her this way.

"...I broke up with Lucas." she finally said. Takuya stopped playing with his fingers. His head whirled in Zoe's direction.  
"Really?! ...h-how come?" he said with huge smile spread across face, but quickly changing his expression to seem as casual about it as he could. Zoe's focus was still on the ground. She still seemed troubled about something.  
"I broke up with him because he told me that he didn't want me around you anymore." she said frankly. Takuya was speechless. Zoe would rather be with him, Takuya, than Lucas?

"Wow."  
Was the only word that managed to come out of Takuya's mouth. He couldn't take his eyes of her. He knew this was it. The perfect moment to tell her how he felt. It was now or never.  
"Zoe, there's something important that I've really wanted to talk to you about." His heart began racing. Takuya had practiced what he was going to tell Zoe if he ever got the chance to about a hundred times in front of the mirror. He opened his mouth and was about to tell her what he had been dieing to tell her for so long, when suddenly Zoe stood up from the swing and turned irritatedly towards Takuya.  
"Of course you can talk to me Takuya, but as long as you promise to act all weird and start avoiding me later." she said with a sudden burst of sarcasm. Then she just walked away.

Takuya sat there on the swing, stunned. He definitely had not expected that to happen. He ran after her as fast as he could.

"Zoe! Wait." he said, putting his hand on her shoulder when he caught up with her. "Did I do something?" his voice a little shaken. He knew exactly what he had done. Zoe just stared at Takuya for a few moments.

"Why didn't you keep in touch with me?" she shouted at him.  
"I- ..What?" he asked, unsure of why she had asked him such an irrelevant question.  
"Why didn't you keep in touch with me? All those years ago. We used to hang out every day. But then you just stopped wanting to be around me. I want to know why." she demanded.  
"Zoe.. I..." Takuya didn't know what to say. He had no idea she felt this way.

No words seemed to come out of his mouth. He knew she was expecting an answer from him. How was he going to explain it all to her? She wouldn't understand.  
"Takuya?" Zoe asked him again. He still didn't know what to tell her.

"Zoe, the only reason I stopped hanging out with you was because you had made a whole bunch of new friends... and I guess I just felt like you didn't need me anymore."  
"Takuya, are you crazy? Of course I needed you." Zoe said, relieved. She took his hands and held them in hers. She could feel his palms start to sweat, but she didn't mind. She was happy that he wasn't avoiding her because he didn't like her anymore.

"...But Zoe, what happens when all those so called friends of yours, turn into your _boyfriends_? Then what am I supposed to do?" Takuya said, later realizing that he should've just kept his mouth shut.  
"What do you mean, 'what are you supposed to do'? Don't tell me you were jealous of them, Takuya. I would always have time for you. You were my best friend."  
"Zoe, you don't understand. I don't want to be your _friend_."  
"You don't want to be my friend?" Now she was really confused.  
"No, that's not what I meant! Zoe... how can you not know by now... how I feel about you.."  
"How you feel about me?"  
"God, Zoe! Are you really that brain dead?"  
"What did you call me?" She let go of his hands. Why was acting so weird? If Takuya wanted to tell her something, why didn't he just say it already!

Takuya was getting really frustrated. Why was she making this so difficult? He glanced at Zoe. She seemed kind of mad at the fact that he had just called her brain dead. This was definitetly not supposed to happen.

What were to happen if Zoe did happen to finally figure out how much Takuya really liked her? It was obvious that she only thought of them as friends. Takuya couldn't deal with her rejecting him.

"I'm sorry, Zoe." he mumbled. He needed to get out of there. Takuya didn't know exactly why he was suddenly so scared. He turned around, put both his hands back inside his pockets, and started to walk away. Zoe stared at him in disbelief. Was he leaving? Just like that?  
"Takuya! Where do you think you're going? We're not finished here!" She called out after him.

He continued walking. It killed Takuya to just ignore her like that. Especially to just leave Zoe standing there, alone. He had always been the brave one. Never afraid of anything. Funny how fact didn't seem to help him now.

Not even a little bit.


	10. Old Friends

**_woot! Final chapter! Don't forget to review :)_**

Zoe was in shock. How could he just leave her like that? Takuya was going to tell her something that was apparently very important, and then he just left!

Outraged, would not even begin to describe how she was feeling right now. She didn't know what was happening between them. She needed a friend to talk to more than ever. It used to be that whenever she was upset, Takuya would always be the first one she would turn to. So much for that.

Zoe couldn't think anyone else besides Takuya that she could rely on for stuff like comfort and advice. Well actually, there was one other person. An old friend. Zoe pulled herself together and left to go find him.  
---

She stood outside his house and nervously rang the door bell. A boy with long black hair answered the door.  
"Zoe..?" he asked sounding surprised to see her standing there.  
"Kouji!" Zoe shouted while throwing her arms around him. She couldn't believe how much he had changed. Kouji didn't know how to react to Zoe's unexpected visit. He raised his arms slightly and patted her on the back. He was never good at hugs.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" Kouji asked. Another boy, identical to Kouji came walking by from inside the house.  
"Kouji, how many times do I have to tell you not to leave your hair products on my- Oh, Zoe... hello." the boy said.  
"Kouichi!" Zoe said happily and threw her arms around Kouichi as well, initiating a very awkward group hug between the three of them. Kouji and Kouichi just looked at each other from behind Zoe, hoping that the other would know what was going on. "Oh I've missed you guys!" she said cheerfully.

Zoe unwrapped her arms from around the puzzled twins.  
"Sorry for coming over like this, but I just really needed to talk to Kouji." she said. Kouji became startled to hear that.  
"Me? Why me? Kouichi here is a far better listener than I am." Kouji said quickly. He hated listening to other people's problems. And knowing Zoe, she most likely had a long, detailed problem.  
"Sorry but I have, ah, socks to iron. Bye! Great to see you again, Zoe." Kouichi said and dashed up the stairs. Kouji sighed.  
"So Zoe, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" he said and walked her into the living room.  
"It's about Takuya." she replied.  
"Is he alright?" he asked concerned.  
"Yeah, he's fine. He just has many, many issues."  
---

Takuya was outside, sitting on the park bench. His head was leaned back, staring up into the clouds. There was only one thing on his mind.  
"I'm such an idiot." he whispered to himself. The hurt look on Zoe's face when he had just turned his back on her, replayed over and over in Takuya's head. He should have just told her how he felt. Being rejected would have been a lot better than walking out on her. Anything would have been better than that.

If only he could go back in time. He missed her already. He had to fix this. But how? Takuya needed help. Fast. And he knew just the person that could help him.  
---

"Zoe, I'm sure you're just over reacting. It couldn't have been that bad." Kouji said, doing his best to try and comfort Zoe. Her face was buried in his chest and she once again had her arms around him. He knew she was upset, so he tried not to get annoyed by her being so clingy to him. Kouji wasn't much of a people person, but he surprisingly did make her feel better.

There was a knock at the door.  
"I'll get it!" Kouichi said while coming down the stairs. He snuck a peak at how Kouji was doing with Zoe, laughed, and then opened the door. Once again he was surprised to see who it was that was standing there.  
"Takuya?"  
"Hey Kouichi, is Kouji home?" Takuya asked out of breath. He had come here as fast as he could.  
"Kouji? Why do you ask?"  
"I just really need his help on someth-" Takuya stopped in the middle of his sentence. Something caught his eye. "Are those Zoe's?" he asked, pointing at the shoes by the entrance. Kouichi didn't know exactly what was going on, but he had overheard Zoe say the words "stupid Takuya" more then once, and he kind of got the impression that she didn't really want to see him now.  
"Those aren't Zoe's. They're, um... mine." Kouichi said quickly. The shoes were pink and had bunnies on it. You couldn't blame him for trying. Takuya heard Zoe's voice coming from inside. He pushed past Kouichi and rushed into the living room.  
"Always a pleasure to have old friends stop by." Kouichi said sarcastically and followed Takuya.

Just as he thought, Zoe was here. His heart nearly shattered. The first thing Takuya saw when he walked in was Zoe, she and Kouji were holding each other closely. He wished he could say that he hadn't immediately assumed the worst. Takuya lowered his head. He was too late.

"Zoe, I think someone's here to see you." Kouji said, freeing himself from Zoe's grasp when he saw Takuya come in. Takuya raised his head at the same time Zoe turned around. He actually saw her smile for the first time today.  
"How'd you know I was here?" she asked him. Takuya then realized why she was here with Kouji. Zoe had come here for the same reason that he had.  
"Lucky guess." he smiled back at her. Then to Takuya's surprise, Zoe walked over to him and hugged him. He could've sworn that a few hours ago she hated him. Zoe ended the hug when she remembered what had happened between them earlier. She just looked at him, expecting an apology. Takuya wasted no time.  
"Zoe, I'm an idiot. And I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt you." Takuya would have continued rambling on, but he noticed Kouji and Kouichi watching him and Zoe intently. They seemed to be quite interested in Takuya making a fool out of himself. "Let's talk outside." he told Zoe.  
"Shoot, I wanted to hear this." Kouichi complained. Takuya and Zoe left and decided to talk outside on the porch steps.

Zoe sat a few inches away from Takuya. He had forgotten everything he was going to tell her. Both of them were silent.  
"You know, you're cute when you're pretending to be mad at me." Takuya said, hoping to end the awkward silence.  
"Shut up."  
"You're even more cute when you're pretending to be serious." he teased.  
"I'm going to hit you." her cheeks were blushing.  
"So have you forgiven me for being such a jerk?" he asked.  
"Yeah, I guess. Kouji explained typical 'Takuya' behaviour to me. It was hard staying mad you after hearing that. You have enough problems." She joked. They both didn't say anything for a while. They just enjoyed being in each other's company.

"So I guess it's true what they say about blondes." Takuya said, ending the silence once again.  
"Oh yeah? And what would that be."  
"That blondes are kind of slow."  
"Excuse me?" she said a little alarmed.  
"Well Zoe, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that I was crazy about you from the start." he grinned. Zoe smiled, but was not at all impressed by the cheesiness of that line.  
"You got the Crazy part right."

"So is there anything that you would like to say to me?" Takuya asked, hoping that she, too, would confess her undying love for him. Or something of that nature.  
"Nope. Not really." she replied.  
"Oh, ok… So I guess I'll be on my way then."  
"I was kidding." she said, grabbing his hand and preventing him from leaving. He sat back down beside her.

"I knew it. You've always had a thing for me, haven't you? I'm impossible to resist." he said mischievously. Zoe rolled her eyes. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. Her hands were still holding his hands. None of them said anything for a while.

"So are you two just going to stare at each other all day?" They heard Kouichi yell from the window. Both Kouji and Kouichi seemed to find their personal lives very entertaining, as they had been watching them the whole time from the window. Takuya's and Zoe's cheeks both turned red. Kouichi did have a point though.

"This is something I should have done a long time ago." Takuya whispered to her. He gently pulled Zoe towards him and kissed her.

And once he started kissing her, he couldn't seem to stop. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer to him. He could almost feel her heart beating against his. Takuya had dreamed about this moment for so long.

"Ok, I think it's time to go back inside now, sicko." Kouji said to his brother. They took one last look at the happy couple before returning back to daily lives. They were both happy to see their friends finally get together. It was about time.  
---

Takuya had never felt this close to anyone before. He never wanted this to end. It made all the bad times in both of their lives seem worth it, because it led to this moment.

But the best part was that even though this was only their first kiss, he knew that there would be many more coming.


End file.
